1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to control devices for consumers and more particularly to a multitasking clock, an audio feedback set of tweezers, a compliant dress belt, and a safety-enhanced necktie.
2. Description of the Background Art
Consumers are constantly seeking new ways of controlling aspects of their lives, such as their time and their appearance. The number of products in this control category continues to rise, and the need for continuous improvement provides a competitive edge for manufacturers. Following are control apparatus and methods which enhance consumer control and safety.
Time has become the most precious of business commodities and businesspeople are becoming as zealous about tracking the use of time, both personally and within a business environment, as they have been at tracking expenses. However, persons that are required, or desire, to track the time accorded an assortment of tasks are left to record these on paper, or through computer time tracking programs, the times at which they start and stop various tasks. This is true even though a large variety of clocks exist for various manner of time display. Such as for displaying the time of day in one or multiple time zones, tide clocks, stop watches, and an assortment of additional clock types. These clocks typically display one or more offsets of a single time, for instance tide and time zone clocks, or are configured for the accurate timing of a single elapsed time as in a stop watch. Other timing devices include egg timers that can help in achieving the perfectly cooked egg, time punch clocks which can track a check in and out time, chess clocks for setting an upper limit on game time, and a variety of additional clock devices.
In situations in which a user desires to track time, such as for billing purposes, a many people struggle with the frustration, intense overhead, and proclivity for error associated with the use of computer billing programs. Users that are able to continue working on the same ongoing task for long periods of time without interruption may find the use of billing programs adequate. However, in many dynamic environments, the selection of ongoing tasks may change readily, and often the user is subject to frequent interruptions, such as telephones, the time for which, in many cases, also should be accounted for. In these instances, the shortcomings of computer based billing programs lead to frustration, wasted overhead time, and billing errors. When tracking hours within a billing application, the user must switch to the billing application (or load it if not resident), find and stop billing for the current task, create a new task (or find the correct billing category), start the new task. It will be appreciated by anyone having utilized billing packages that the time required to traverse screens to change billing categories is a source of frustration. The overhead involved with switching tasks often prevents a user from properly recording the time spent on various tasks. In addition, the requirement to keep an application resident, especially a large one such as an accounting or billing package, ties up system resources and can create another source of problems. Often users attempt to roughly reconstruct the amount of time they have already spent on a new task, adding it to one category and attempting to subtract it from another, which increases the overhead, frustration, and inaccuracies. In addition, when the user is performing actual work on their computer, as opposed to worrying about their time, they may forget which task is being timed as it is not readily apparent. Furthermore, there are many categories of time expenditure which could be beneficially tracked by an individual that do not show up on a billing system, for example, time spent in meetings, various overhead, breaks and other non-productive time. Salespeople, for example, may be able to improve their commissions, and company profits, by allocating specific amounts of time to each of various duties, and many sales seminars tout the advantages of this form of time tracking. Time tracking can allow individuals in many professions and vocations to better meet their goals, if it can be performed with negligible overhead and task switching frustration.
As can be seen, therefore, the development of a simple clock that is capable of tracking the time accorded a series of tasks can simplify the time tracking process and overcome deficiencies in previously known techniques.
The removal of small projections, such as hairs, splinters, and so forth is still often performed with the use of some form of tweezers, precision needle-nose pliers, or hemi stat. Tweezing devices come in an assortment of styles, and sizes for a variety of applications, primarily cosmetic, but to a lesser extent medical. Tweezers provide a head which is capable of grasping an item generally too small to be removed by a pair of fingers. Typically the tweezing head provides a pair of opposed hard surfaces between which the item to be “tweezed” is first interposed, then grasped, then plucked. Often the items being grasped are very small, or located in a position, such that the person using the device is unable to control the interposing of the item between the head of the tweezers. For example, the removal of small hairs from the brow, the ear, or the nose. In addition, items such as splinters are often extremely small and may also be located in areas that are not amenable to easy viewing. The user is often required to just close the tweezers in the area and pull, hoping to remove the offensive splinter, hair, or other small projective item. Operating a tweezers in this manner is not only inefficient, with the user plucking at phantom projections, but often the skin, or other surface may be get inadvertently interposed between the head and when quickly clamped and pulled this can lead not only to a painful result, but it can break the skin causing a small wound.
As can be seen, therefore, the development of a tweezing device that would provide feedback to the user which would be indicative of the size and nature of items interposed between the head, could simplify the tweezing process making it more efficient, faster, safer, and more accurate. The tweezing device in accordance with the present invention satisfies that need, as well as others, and overcomes deficiencies in previously known techniques.
The more popular and traditional garment belts are typically manufactured with a belt made of a form of leather, such as cowhide, deerskin, lizard skin, ostrich, and so forth. The belt is typically retained about the waist of the wearer and the ends of the belt material are fastened together with a belt buckle. One end of the belt material is fastened to one side of the buckle and the opposing end is referred to as the “tip” of the belt. A row of holes is generally positioned near the tip for engaging the belt buckle to adjust the size of the belt. These holes are typically spaced about three-quarter inch (¾″) to one inch (1″) apart which are used to engage the hasp of the belt buckle to provide retention.
FIG. 35 illustrates the forces on opposing sides of a belt buckle 1600. A traditional belt buckle has a frame 1612 comprising a proximal end 1614, a distal end 1616, a top section 1618, a bottom section 1620, and a hasp member 1622 which is rotatably attached at a distal end 1624 to the distal end 1614 of buckle frame 1612. Hasp member 1622 has a proximal end 1626 which is unattached and typically shaped to engage/contact the proximal end 1614 of buckle frame 1612 through holes in the belt material. It will be appreciated that belts may be configured with multiple hasps, or utilizing other forms of retention such as pegs, for securely engaging the proximal end of the belt material. The distal end 1616 of buckle frame 1612 is typically attached to the material of the belt by being retained within a loop of the belt material that is sewn to itself. To wear the belt, it is typically inserted through belt loops in the garment and then closed, or fastened, by inserting the tip of the belt through the interior of the buckle and inserting the proximal end 1626 of hasp 1622 into a hole in the belt material that is expected to provide the best fit. When properly fit onto the wearer, the belt will be under a selected level of circumferential tension. This tension also exists across the belt buckle itself, with forces in a first direction 1628a, 1628b pulling on the distal end 1616 of belt frame 1612 and an opposing force 1630 applied at the hasp/belt interface. It will be appreciated that the forces applied on the distal end 1616 of buckle frame 1612 are shown split into an upper and lower force as the belt material typically is slightly split at the point of attachment with the belt frame to accommodate the rotatable distal end 1624. When a non-compliant belt material is utilized, it will be appreciated that the tension of the belt is determined solely by the setting of hasp 1622.
It will be appreciated that the limited adjustability of the belt often results in the belt being either too tight, causing discomfort, or slightly too loose, causing an unseemly appearance. Placing the holes closer to one another is generally not an option because this weakens the material between the holes and the appearance of the belt is markedly diminished. In addition, the belt wearer may become uncomfortable while wearing the belt, due to changes in body position, or waist circumference, such as caused by the amount of food ingested and so forth. The discomfort may incline the wearer toward changing the belt setting, however, this is not always convenient, since in all but the most casual of surroundings such actions are not generally well received. To increase comfort and eliminate the need to adjust a belt while it is being worn, many belts utilized for casual wear have been made from compliant materials, such as elasticized cloth material. Despite their comfort, elastic belts, have enjoyed only slightly more popularity than clip-on ties. It appears that the buying public would rather suffer the discomfort of a non-compliant belt to gain the aesthetics provided by belts manufactured from traditional materials, such as leather, which have little natural compliance.
Therefore, a need exists for a garment belt with improved comfort and fit while not sacrificing aesthetics. The compliant belt buckle, or belt system, in accordance with the present invention satisfies that need, as well as others, and overcomes deficiencies in previously known techniques.
Garment comfort is a consideration that is important but lags behind issues of safety. One item of apparel that is particularly prone to causing serious injury is the conventional necktie. A necktie is often worn by business persons in many situations. A necktie surrounds the neck of the individual and drapes down in front of the individual. Wearing a conventional necktie poses a safety hazard, because if the extended portions of the tie is caught in a piece of machinery, such as shown in FIG. 43, or grasped by an assailant, the tie becomes a noose and can easily strangle the individual, or cause other forms of injury, such as pulling a portion of the individuals head or torso into contact with a piece of machinery. It will be recognized that the dangling ends of a tie may be easily caught up in machinery such as elevators, paper shredders, copy machines, garbage disposers, and any number of common devices which can cause serious injury or death to the person wearing the tie. Conventional neckties are not constructed to provide for separation at a given tension force, and generally can withstand tension forces exceeding one hundred pounds, often far exceeding this value, prior to breakage. Unfortunately, allowing these high level of tension force to be applied to the neck of the wearer poses a definite threat to safety, since there exists no situation in which the wearer would desire to be subject to such forces. The forces applied during tying and wearing of a tie should be less than 20 lbs, and generally well under about 5 lbs. for a normal (non-Gorilla) individual under everyday conditions. It should also be appreciated that bow-ties, and scarves, designed as neckwear are therefore subject to the same safety issues, although to a lesser extent.
Therefore, a need exists for a method of increasing the safety of ties and scarves, the present invention fulfills, that need as well as others.